There was no tribute video for Kyrie Irving before his first game back in Brooklyn like the one Kevin Durant received last week.
Instead, the Nets issued a brief, grouped-together “welcome back” to Irving, Seth Curry and Markieff Morris as their Dallas Mavericks visited Barclays Center on Tuesday.
That was invitation enough for Nets fans to boo their former superstar.
A filling-in crowd jeered Irving as he took the court to warm up, then grew louder when the “welcome back” message emerged on the jumbotron. Fans grew louder yet during Irving’s introduction as a Mavericks starter and, once the game began, continued to boo the polarizing point guard every time he touched the ball.
But Irving didn’t need a tribute video to remind Nets fans of what they’re missing. As he did so many times as a member of the Nets, Irving delivered a dominant display at Barclays Center, exploding for a game-high 36 points on 15-of-24 shooting in Dallas’ 119-107 win.
“Obviously, it was emotional,” Irving said afterward. “You could see my emotions running out there, but after that, just pretty much focused on winning the basketball game.”
Irving began the game in attack mode, scoring nine of the Mavericks’ first 14 points. His 3-pointer at the 6:56 mark of the first quarter prompted a Nets timeout. A pair of contested 3-pointers in the second quarter earned groans from the home crowd, as did his one-handed alley-oop dunk shortly after halftime. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Irving with under five minutes left in the game served as the daggers.
Tuesday marked one year to the day that the Nets granted Irving’s trade request, sending him to Dallas for a package that included Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith.
The deal ended a tumultuous three-and-a-half year tenure in which Irving dazzled on the court but repeatedly made headlines off of it. He missed much of the 2021-2022 campaign after declining to meet New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, then served a team-imposed eight-game suspension last season after sharing a link to a documentary that critics slammed as anti-Semitic.
“Conversations that needed to be had weren’t had before the trade deadline,” Irving said Tuesday. “I don’t know if anything needed to be salvaged. I just think it was time to get my own peace of mind and go somewhere where I was able to thrive and be in a situation where I didn’t have to worry about behind-the-back talk or the media talk or not knowing how to able to handle real-life circumstances that [have] nothing to do with the game of basketball.”
No pregame tribute video for Kyrie Irving like the one Kevin Durant received in his first game back at Barclays Center last week.
Instead, the #Nets issue a brief “welcome back” to Irving, Seth Curry and Markieff Morris pic.twitter.com/Wrahjo7s6z
— Peter Sblendorio (@petersblendorio) February 7, 2024
Irving’s return brought a buzz to the sold-out Barclays Center. Amid his offensive outburst, a fan asked Irving why he didn’t play as well with Brooklyn, as seen in footage posted on social media by the account @Courtsidenets. Irving replied, “Thank Mayor Adams for that,” in a clear reference to the city’s former vaccine requirement.
“His emotions are as good as they come,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of Irving. “He uses the crowd. He uses his teammates. He did a great job of that tonight. … As a vet, as a superstar, there’s never a panic in his game. He just uses the forces around him.”
Irving – who grew up in West Orange, N.J., as a Nets fan – and Durant joined the team before the 2019-20 season, bringing with them championship aspirations. Those sky-high expectations rose even higher when Brooklyn added another superstar, James Harden, midway through the 2020-21 season.
Injuries limited Irving to 20 games in his first season with Brooklyn. The next year, a sprained ankle cost Irving the last three games of an Eastern Conference Semifinals that the Nets lost in seven games to the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks.
In the end, Irving averaged 27.1 points per game over 143 games with Brooklyn but won only one playoff series. His trade to Dallas came a year after the Nets sent Harden to Philadelphia, and three days before they shipped Durant to Phoenix.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen, what’s going to be said out there,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said before Tuesday’s game. “What I do know from my time with Kai is a tremendous amount of respect that he and I have for each other. It was a joy for me to coach him. He is an unbelievable basketball player and we had some success together.”
In October, before the Nets faced the Mavericks in Dallas in their first meeting since the trade, Irving said asking out of Brooklyn was the “best decision” of his career. He scored 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting in that first matchup, which the Mavericks won, 125-120.
Irving is averaging 25.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists for the Mavericks, who improved to 28-23 with Tuesday’s win. Their backcourt pairing of Irving and Luka Doncic – who erupted Tuesday for 35 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists – represent one the NBA’s most dynamic duos.
“He’s an amazing guy,” Doncic said of Irving, reflecting on the one-year anniversary of his running mate’s arrival. “Obviously, an amazing player. We have a great relationship.”
Irving’s return came six days after Durant played his first game at Barclays Center since being sent to the Suns. Durant received a 30-second tribute video, during which a sold-out crowd mostly cheered for him. Nets fans then booed Durant every time he touched the ball, but he, too, dominated his former team, scoring a game-high 33 points in Phoenix’s 136-120 win.
The Nets, still searching for their identity without Irving and Durant, fell Tuesday to 20-30 and remain outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Irving says he’s at peace with what transpired in Brooklyn.
“If I didn’t get injured versus the Bucks, do I still ask for a trade?” Irving said. “If [Durant’s] foot wasn’t on the 3-point line [in a Game 7 loss to Milwaukee], are we talking about a different legacy here? If James doesn’t ask for a trade. All of the woulda, coulda, shoulda, wouldas, hopefully, after this night we can just put that to rest and just move forward.”
